


Can't Wait To See You

by Magnonette



Series: Whumptober 2020 [24]
Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Cages, Fluff and Angst, Good Parent Joxaren | The Joxter, Kidnapping, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27180307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magnonette/pseuds/Magnonette
Summary: Snufkin had told Moomin and Snorkmaiden that he would be gone for a week and would be back right after. He had precised that even if he was to be late he wouldn't be more than three days late. However, it had been more than three days now, and there was still no sign of him. They both were starting to have a bad feeling about it and decided they should go find him, just to make sure that he was fine, he would understand.
Relationships: Mumintrollet | Moomintroll & Snusmumriken | Snufkin, Snorkfröken | The Snork Maiden & Snusmumriken | Snufkin
Series: Whumptober 2020 [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948144
Kudos: 33





	Can't Wait To See You

**Author's Note:**

> You’re Not Making Any Sense - Forced Mutism - Blindfolded - Sensory Deprivation

Mumriks were known as wild, feral, creatures. They were known as criminal. They were said to not be able to stay in one place for long, nor to be able to stay with the same persons for too long. But, on top of all, they were very rare.

So, when it came to mymriks, a hybrid of a mumrik and a mymble, those were even rarer. They were said to mostly take from their mumrik parent, but they were so rare that nobody could really describe them.

Snufkin was walking through the forest, the wind blowing through his hair gently. It was a beautiful day for a traveling and the mymrik was coming back from a small week of traveling, alone. 

Snufkin had to promise his friend that he would be back after a week, even telling them that if he was to be late he was sure not to be more than three days late, so they could be reassured that he would, indeed, come back. It wasn’t unusual for him to promise such things, as, with Moomin, he’d gotten used to reassuring him that way that he would always be back in the spring after months of traveling.

He had to admit that he was quite eager to meet with his friends again. He had to go away for a while to rest from the constant company, but now that he was refreshed, he wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the month with them.

Everything was going fine. The weather was perfect, neither to hot nor too cold, the wind gentle and the sun shining beautifully, high above him. The small forest creatures were running around, busying themselves with whatever little creatures like them could have to do, while the birds flew high above them all, singing their beautiful songs to anyone that was around to hear them.

Snufkin had to be close now, from what he could recognize of the path he was taking. It was the same he always used in and out of the Valley. It was always a little different every time he passed there, the weather and the life of the forest always changing even the smallest things. It was perfect for Snufkin, slowly making his way to a more familiar part of the world to him.

He was lost in his thoughts, thinking about maybe making a new tune on his harmonica on his way back, just like every spring, for his friends to hear when he would arrive, when he noticed a sudden change in the ambiance of the forest.

The forest had been warm and lively along the way. He could hear the small forest creatures running about during the whole travel. But, now, everything was dead silent. No creature seemed to be around anymore, even the birds were gone, somehow. The previously warm and lively forest had left place to a cold and menacing one.

Snufkin could feel that there was something very wrong with the forest. Something was not right. He stopped in his track, looking around carefully. He could swear that he was feeling eyes on him.

Then, a sudden crack of a twig nearby made him snap around to see what, or who, was the origin of the noise.

He didn’t have much time to realize what was happening as multiple men came out from being trees and bushes and jumped on him. They pushed him to the ground fumbling to get him to stop fighting against them. 

Snufkin, although he’d been taken by surprise, wasn’t going to let them get him so easily. He fought to get them off of him, trying to claw at them. They managed to snatch his backpack, the straps snapping under the strength of the group trying to stop the mymrik from getting away.

Snufkin couldn’t fight much against all of them. He had been pinned to the ground, on his stomach, and couldn’t use his claw against them that way, so instead he tried to get a hold of his backpack to, maybe, find something of use before they immobilized him completely. However, he only managed to claw at his bag, still struggling to fight against them as they violently tried to get hold of him to tie him up.

Eventually, they managed to grab his arms and tie them together, soon followed by his legs, they then, for good measure, tied his arms to his body tightly so that, even if he managed somehow to free his paws, he couldn’t free himself fully. They quickly put a gag in his mouth to stop him from screaming, and a blindfold on his eyes.

No matter that he was tied up, Snufkin was still trying to struggle his way out, even without seeing. It was making it harder for them to carry him, but they seemed to be determined in capturing him. But, even if their first intention had been to not harm him, they soon couldn’t deal with his struggling, cursing and knocking him out with a violent hit on the head.

Moomin and Snorkmaiden had been waiting for three days now. Three long days of waiting on the bridge, staring at the path coming out of the forest and to them. They knew that Snufkin had said he might be late, but he had precised that even if it was the case, he would be back before it got to three days.

It was passed three days now, however.

Moomin and Snorkmaiden looked at each other. They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment. They both came to the same conclusion, without even using words, they knew that the other was thinking the same.

They both went back to MoominHouse with the same resolution. They announced to MoominMamma that they were going to find Snufkin. Of course, they told them that he was probably just late and that he couldn’t really predict if there would be anything to make him this late, that he would be back soon, and to just wait a little longer. But, they had already made their decision. They couldn’t be stopped, and they both agreed that they had a bad feeling about it. They just had to check if he was fine.

They set of on the same path they knew Snufkin used, trying to follow their instinct on where he could have gone to. They weren’t sure if they really should be going after him. They were starting to fear that the others were right and that they would be bothering him, maybe going to find him wasn’t that much of a good idea after all. But they pressed on. They just wanted to make sure he was fine, he would understand.

As they walked, their bad feeling was getting worse, they could feel that something was wrong. And what they found on their way wasn’t anything to reassure them or make them think they were wrong.

On their way, in the middle of the path, was Snufkin’s bag and hat. His bag’s straps were broken and there was claw marks on the bag and on the ground. It was obvious that there had been a fight there.

Moomin and Snorkmaiden gasped at the sight, looking at each other with increasing worry. They approached the scene carefully, examining everything. There was no blood, so Snufkin must be alright, hopefully, but he’s nowhere in sight and there is no sign of the things, or people, that attacked him.

They looked closer at the backpack, examining the claw marks. It didn’t look like any animal. It looked like Snufkin’s claws, small but sharp. They could tell that because they had never seen such claws before. Apparently, it was from the Joxter’s mumrik nature but smaller because of the mymble’s genes. It was unique and there was no way it was from anything else.

They glanced at each other, nodding, before they took Snufkin’s things with them, going back in a hurry to MoominValley. The walk hadn’t even taken more than half a day, and they were home before night came.

Everyone was very worried as well at the sight of Snufkin’s gears and the marks. This time no one even hesitated before deciding to go after him. They all prepared themselves, while some went to find the Inspector to warn him, and went on their search in the middle of the night. Only Joxter, and Snufkin, had night vision, so they would have waited for the morning, but the desperation in the claw marks and clear moon lighting the landscape beautiful pushed them to go without wasting any more time.

Moomin, Snorkmaiden, Joxter and Little My walked ahead of everybody, Joxter following his nose and his hunting instinct to lead them to his son.

Snufkin wasn’t sure what had happened since he lost consciousness. All he knew was that he was now stuck, curled up tightly, in what seemed to be a small cage, from the bars he could feel against his body. His head was hurting where he’d been hit, and his body was painful as well, a result of the violent fight and of his struggles to get free.

He tried to move but found that he couldn’t. The cage was so small that he was stuck in this uncomfortable, curled up position. He tried to talk, but he noticed that his voice was gone, no sound coming from his mouth, and there was a strange taste in his mouth that was making him feel sick to his stomach.

He was still blindfolded and gagged, meaning he couldn’t do much but struggled to try and make something happen. But first, he tried to listen. He listened intently, trying to hear if he could make out anything from his attackers and trying to figure out where he was.

Strangely, he couldn’t hear anything. But, it wasn’t like when he couldn’t hear anything from his attackers or from the outside. He literally couldn’t hear anything, at all. There was no sound. The only thing he could hear was his own respiration and the metallic sound that was caused by his movements.

Where was he? What was happening? Who were those people and what did they want from him? What did they do to him?

So many questions rushed through his mind, only managing to increase his growing fear. He’d been in bad situations before, and it probably wouldn’t be the last time, but he never, ever had this happen to him.

To try to calm himself as he was panicking, Snufkin tried to review all the information he knew.

He had been attacked by a group of men, he couldn’t tell how many they were, as he was blindfolded before he could see them. They’d knocked him out, which explained the pain in his head. His body was hurting because of the violence from the attack. He had woken up in what seemed to be a cage with no voice and a strange taste in his mouth. And, he couldn’t hear anything aside from his own breathing and the noises he caused by struggling inside the cage.

There wasn’t mush to figure out based on the small amount of information he knew. He tried to move, tried to find a break in the cage, but he couldn’t, he was paralyzed by the smallness of the cage.

Snufkin tried and tried again, struggling as much as he could to move, even just an inch would be good enough. If only he could just move.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he’d been caught, wasn’t sure how long he’d been stuck, trying to struggled free, in that small cage. It was impossible for him to know anything the way he was.

All Snufkin knew was that he was trapped, and that the silence was driving him crazy. He was so scared that he couldn’t stop himself from shaking and crying. He had stopped trying to free himself by now, noticing that the air was starting to be running out. He wasn’t sure what was happening anymore.

It had been a long, for all he could say at least. He couldn’t fight anymore. He’d stopped trying, stopped hoping, for a while now. He was pretty sure that he was about to die in there. He couldn’t breathe anymore, trying to breathe was hurting so much, the lack of air more painful than his poor bruised body.

He was sure it was the end. But then, a noise, much too loud in the otherwise dead silent thing that was keeping him locked in, hurting his hears. The loud sound of a click, a clatter, followed by a long, agonizing, squeaking. His ears were hurting so much now, all this noise after being stuck in a silent hell for who knew how long.

Snufkin couldn’t tell what was happening. He was so scared. He could only imagine it being the men coming to finish the job. When he felt the hands on his, he was sure he was done for, until, the warm paws pulled him delicately out of the cage and against a warm coat of fur. The noises were hurting his head so much, but he was starting to make out more of them. Voices. There were voices.

“Snufkin! Don’t worry, we’re here.” A gentle, but very worried voice said. “Here.”

Suddenly, light was hitting his eyes. He was so focused on the air finally rushing into his empty lungs to have noticed the paws taking off his blindfold, soon followed by his gag. He groaned silently at the pain of the light in his eyes, now used to the empty darkness.

“Hey.” Another voice said gently, with the same amount of worry in her tune. “We’ve got you now. You’ll be fine. Just breathe okay.” She reassured, another paw coming to stroke his back gently after untying his bonds.

Snufkin did as the voice told him, clinging to whoever was holding him as he tried to recover his breath, keeping his eyes close at first, as the light was too much too handle.

“There.” She said gently, still stroking his back.

When Snufkin was finally able to look, he found himself in Moomin’s arms, Snorkmaiden next to them and stroking his back while reassuring him. He could hear noises from the other room and, and could only guess what was happening.

They had come to save him.

He couldn’t help the renewed tears from falling. He’d been so scared, never even thinking that they would notice anything before days. The relief of seeing them there, of having them saving him now, when he was so sure he was going to die, was too much for him.

“It’s okay. We’ve got you.” Moomin whispered as they both hugged him. “We’re here now. You’re safe.” There was an obvious emotion in his voice, making Snufkin know that he was almost crying as well.

They let him cling to them as long as he needed, as he still tried to breathe, ignoring the pain in his body as he hadn’t been able to move for so long, staying stuck in the same position for so long.

“Are you alright? How are you feeling?” Snorkmaiden asked when they finally let go of him, as he was finally able to breathe properly again.

“...” Snufkin tried to talk, but nothing came out, not a sound. He put a paw to his throat in panic as he realized that his voice was really fully gone, looking at them with panic in his eyes.

“You can’t talk?” Moomin and Snorkmaiden frowned at each other, the worry still clear as day in their eyes as they met. “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m sure Mamma will have something for that.” They tried to reassure

Talking about the wolf, MoominMamma made her way inside the room, followed by a very worried Joxter. They hurried to Snufkin, kneeling in front of him. MoominMamma immediately started to examine him, reassuring him that he was fine all the while, as Joxter just stared. He wasn’t staring at Snufkin, however, he was staring at the cage, neatly tucked inside a perfect size safe. Snufkin followed his eyes, noticing his stare and froze at the sight. He’d known that he mustn’t only be in a cage, but the view of the small safe, with its big lock and thick structure, was more than he’d even could have imagined.

MoominMamma didn’t say anything about it, glancing quietly at them before going back to her task. She gently took Snufkin’s head in her paws, rubbing at a spot on his temple. A sudden jolt of pain made Snufkin flinch. He cried out in pain, but still no sound came out. MoominMamma took notice of the lack of sound but didn’t say anything about it, apologizing about the pain gently.

She announced, after a moment, that the group of men had been successfully captured and were being led to jail. She got up, warning Snufkin that they were going to carry him home, as she could tell that he wouldn’t be able to walk yet and that she’d prefer if he didn’t try, to not hurt him further. She could tell how upset he was, and she wanted nothing but for Snufkin to be able to rest in a warm and soft bed, in the safety of MoominHouse.

Joxter carefully took his son in his arms, despite Moomin and Snorkmaiden offering to carry him. Snufkin let him carry him easily, leaning against his father gratefully and clinging to him during the walk back home. He had never been so happy to be carried by someone. For the first time in his life, he was happy to let his family take care of him, to rely on them and let them help him.

When they arrived back at home, Snufkin had already fallen asleep, rocked by the gentle reassurances that his father whispered to him on the way back. Little My was disappointed to not be able to see him awake but was relieved to see that he was alright.

For the next few days, Snufkin stayed at MoominHouse, accepting easily to be fussed over by everyone, aside from Little My, who just pretended that it was his fault for being captured, which he didn’t pay attention too, as he knew she was just pretending not to care and was just happy to see him.

Moomin and Snorkmaiden spent most of their time by his side. He could tell that they had been about as shocked as him about what had happened to him, about how they found him in this cage, in this safe. They kept reassuring each other, showing that everything was alright now. 

Joxter also stayed a lot by Snufkin’s side, pretending to nap but silently keeping an eye on him, as the protective dad he was.

Snufkin’s voice took a long time to come back. He stayed mute for a few weeks, even with MoominMamma’s medicine. She knew what they had forced him to drink to make him mute, but she didn’t have any antidote for it, aside from small recipes that could help make it heal faster.

Eventually, everything came back to normal and Snufkin was able to go out again, to go back to his camping spot. Mamma had repaired his backpack for him and had even added a few things in it for him, after asking him. 

He was so happy to return to his old life in the Valley, spending as much time as he could with his friends, and even with his father. They all helped him feel safer again and forget what had happened.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it!
> 
> Okay, alright. I'm gonna admit it right now, I broke, lol, I used Snufkin for this one, I couldn't help it, and maybe for the next one too. Whoops. I'm sorry everyone. I can't help it. He's just that good of a material for stories. I hope they at least are good enough for you all X)


End file.
